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Premier Wen to visit ROK, Japan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-03-27 16:23

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) and Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao (L) review the honour guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing October 8, 2006. [Reuters]

At the invitation of President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo-hyun and Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay an official visit to the two countries from April 10 to 13.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the announcement Tuesday at a regular press conference.

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Qin said Wen will visit ROK from April 10 to 11 and Japan from April 11 to 13. The detailed agenda of Wen's two-nation tour is still under consultation.

This will be the first visit in seven years paid by Chinese Premier to Japan.

And China and Japan will start the seventh round of talks on the East China Sea issues in Tokyo on Thursday, Qin Gang said.

Director of Chinese Foreign Ministry Department of Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue and head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kenichiro Sasae will attend the talks as top negotiators.

China-Japan relations had been frozen for long due to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's continued visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Japanese class-A war criminals in the second World War were enshrined.

China and Japan overcame political obstacles last October when Chinese President Hu Jintao and Abe met in Beijing. The two reached agreements on facilitating healthier development of bilateral relations, which brought bilateral ties back on track for improvement.